A Lexington teenager who was charged with murder as a minor has been sentenced to probation for a lesser charge after a judge ruled more jail time would do him and the community more harm.
Elijah Adams, 19, was sentenced by Fayette Circuit Judge Julie Goodman to five years of probation and parole for facilitation to murder in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Michael Proctor in August 2020.
Adams pleaded guilty to the amended charge in March, according to court documents. Adams, who was 16 at the time of the shooting, was initially charged by Lexington police with murder. He faced the possibility of a five-year prison sentence, which Goodman said would do more harm to Adams and the community.
Goodman said during the sentencing hearing Wednesday that probation would allow Adams to be under supervision by the courts. She said if he were to be in prison, he would get out on parole in a few months because he had already been in custody for two and a half years.
“When you sentence someone to five years, they are eligible for parole after serving 20 percent, so to send him to the penitentiary will do the community and this young man more harm,” she said. “He will be out in a few months, and when he is out, he gets off scot-free. If he had not served anytime, I may feel different, but my concern is, he is at this time only 19 years old, his brain is not developed until 26, for men.
“If I let him out without supervision, without individuals to hold accountable, or me able to charge with probation violation and put him back in jail, I feel he will never have true consequences.”
Attorney: Probation is ‘best case scenario’ for Adams
Adams was accused of killing Proctor, listed in court documents as “M.P,” on the night of Aug. 21, 2020. Court documents state Adams, Proctor and an adult who was identified as “T.L.” were seen together at a block party.
Adams told police he was driving the group when T.L. unexpectedly shot Proctor and then pushed him out of the vehicle, according to court documents. Proctor was found in the street in the area of North Broadway and McClain Drive with multiple gunshot wounds, according to court documents.
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Goodman acknowledged Adams was the youngest person in the car at the time of the shooting, and was not the person who killed Proctor.
Adams’ attorney, Daniel Whitley, requested probation, and said the reality of the situation was that probation was the best case scenario.
“Under the supervision of probation, Adams can receive ample employment, vocational training, or other options, he will do volunteer work, and can maintain contact with a (parole officer),” Whitley said. “He can receive mental health treatment if he needs that.”
Whitley said Adams wouldn’t get help if he were sent to prison for a short period of time.
“If the court punishes him to serve out, then he we will be back on the street with no help once he gets out,” Whitley said.
Victim’s family feels no justice was served
Proctor’s mother and father spoke to the court during Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, and said five years in prison was not enough time for justice to be served for the death of their son.
After sentencing, they were more disappointed with the decision for him to be released on probation. But they said they were prepared for the worst.
“(Adams) is a Black child like my son. He is young like my son,” said Marcus Proctor, Michael Proctor’s father. “But my son is gone. So there is really no justice when you lose a child especially to gun violence. The evidence there says (Adams) wasn’t involved or whatever it may be but he has to live with that like we have to live with it, but no, no justice was served.”
While giving his statement in court, Marcus Proctor said he had forgiven Adams. Wantrice Proctor, Michael’s mother, said she was not at that point.
“No, I don’t forgive anyone,” she said.
Proctor played football at Lexington’s Frederick Douglass High School from 2017 to 2019, the school shared on social media. His parents said he had a full scholarship to attend college and had a bright future ahead.
“Great kid. Good heart. Wrong place, wrong time,” Marcus Proctor said.
Marcus Proctor urged young men in the community to stop getting involved in gun violence.
“Stop killing each other. For what? Color, land, serotonin,” Marcus Proctor said. “You have to keep in mind that the damage you do is not just to the victim’s family, it is to your family as well.”